Food and Wine: A Pairing Should Fit The Bill

Jon Troutman
My Website · My Articles
Posted: May 14th, 2010
I was recently out to eat at a restaurant in downtown New York City that inspired this piece. While the name of the establishment will remain nameless, I’ve noticed this particular restaurant’s downfall becoming a trend, sweeping across both Manhattan and the nation as a whole. The issue that I’ve experienced  is with the pricing and quality of wine lists that are completely out of line with the pricing and offerings from a kitchen. The following description of incongruity between food and wine is not unique to restaurants. This same principal should be applied when preparing a meal at home…
My friend and I showed up for dinner decked out in our finest jeans, t-shirts and sneakers. A casual spot, we were led to our table by an unkempt, disheveled looking teenager and presented menus and a wine list. For food, we had an assortment of gourmet dishes to choose from, including a “chicken cutlet sandwich” and a “cheeseburger with sweet fries”. Nope, these were not kids menus.
After a quick dinner menu perusal, I flipped open the wine list. With over 150 wines by the bottle and 20 wines by the glass, there was a major French influence to the list. The least expensive by the glass pour was a Loire Valley Saumur – priced at $11 per glass. By the bottle there were verticals of Dom Perignon and Opus One. Suddenly I asked myself, “should I be wearing a collared shirt?”
You wouldn’t serve Beluga Caviar with Lay’s potato chips for scooping, would you?
For that very same reason, you shouldn’t serve a bottle of 1990 Dom Perignon alongside Popcorn. The two may complement each other. In fact, the two might even enhance one another. Like your Uncle Charlie who always seems to have a gas-attack when company is around; it’s funny, it might even work in the right situation, but it’s just plain inappropriate.
Instead, save that bottle of Vintage Champagne and Cult Cabernet for the freshly shucked, Wellfleet Oysters and Dry Aged, Niman Ranch Beef, respectively. The quality of grape growing, wine making and price point of your wine selection should be in line with the quality of food products, freshness and cost of the dinner you’re pairing it with.
Homemade pizza on a Tuesday night? Find a bottle of barbera from Italy’s Piedmont region. There are loads of high quality examples that can be had for under $15. On the other hand, if you’re hosting an intimate dinner party with a menu that includes Truffles and Ox Tail, you might want to explore the more expensive, complex wines of Barolo and Barbaresco from Italy’s very same Piedmont region.
Follow this advice and you’ll be in a good position to select the perfect, appropriate wine for every occasion. Now, just make sure to leave Uncle Charlie off the guest list.
Comments Share
  • bigphilmd
    I'm going to agree with both Kiira and Trout here. I think it's bad business to have a wine list where the cheapest glass of wine is more expensive than some of the entrees. It boxes out consumers that just want a cheap glass of anything to accompany their food. Anyone that has any sense of a budget for that meal would most likely pass on the wine if it's 50% of their check. At the same time, I think it's a good business practice to list higher priced wines on the menu. It creates the potential for a special/memorable meal even though a chicken cutlet sandwich is nothing more than mundane. It seems as if the restaurant strategically prices the wine to convince the consumer to pay for the more expensive wine. If you want the wine so much that you're considering paying $11 a glass to accompany your $10 burger, you'll probably feel better buying the $45 bottle of a desirable wine. The QPR gets better as you hit the middle range of prices.
  • Nice article and I totally agree :-X. The quality of the menu should be commensurate to the quality of the vino. Truth be told, we serve boxed California wine with our burgers and ribs and it's totally fine with our clientele. Though it's mostly due to lack of choices where we are. Cheers!

    all the best,
    Avenue S Bar & Grill
    www.avenue-s.com
  • Great job!
  • Phredd3
    It seems to me that the biggest faux pas here is budgetary. I mean, I'm not a New Yorker, so I don't know what the going rate is in your neck of the woods for a chicken cutlet sandwich in a place where you don't feel out of place in jeans and a t-shirt, but I'm unlikely to pay too much more than that $11 price of the glass of Saumur. And if the Saumur was the cheapest offering, that seems like a big mismatch to me. Most people I know aren't too interested in having a cheap meal while ponying up serious dough for their wine. So this seems like a very strange marketing choice to me.

    On the other hand, what difference does it make, if you like the pairing and are willing to afford it? At home I've had a $40 chardonnay with a $0.50 frozen chicken patty before, just because I thought they might go well together (they did) and I had them handy. And I've had some serously great wine with pizza on occasion. Barolo, in particular, goes just great with a well-spiced, meat-heavy pizza.

    As a restaurateur, I'd feel odd about offering Opus One with a burger menu. At home, if that's the way I'm feeling, that's the way I'm rolling.
  • It's definitely a flaw in the restaurant marketing. People dining on chicken cutlets and burgers are usually not in the mood to spend $200+ on a bordeaux blend. What bothers me even more than the expensive bottle selection is the high, overpriced by the glass list. If you want to carry high end bottles for the "ballers" of the world, so be it - but don't force me to spend an arm and a leg just to drink a glass of wine.

    If the chicken patty and $40 Chard worked well, and you're okay with the pairing - then roll with it! Again, it's all personal preference. I just personally like to save my higher end bottles for special occasions and labor intensive meals.

  • D_Rod
    I generally hate buying wine by the glass unless I'm eating by myself (or my guest doesn't want wine) because the markups are so absurd. I've been to way too many places that charge $10 for a glass of $15 chardonnay or similar. At that point I go for beer.
  • Phredd3
    In fairness, I usually do, too. Just once in awhile I get in an "oh, what the heck" mood, and run with it. Nice article, by the way. Fun and thought-provoking.
  • me
    Nice points and this is definitely something that constantly bothers me.
    I really like your ideas and way of thinking but why are you using words that I had to look up in a dictionary, also quick perusal is an oxymoron.
    You are criticizing restaurants for not keeping their wine menu content in check with their food options, yet you are talking above common register on cork'd.
    This is a blog, keep it conversational.
  • Glad you liked the ideas and thanks so much for the input, I'll definitely keep it in mind for future writing
  • I understand the whole juxtaposition of having an expensive wine list alongside a menu of blue plate specials -- doesn't seem to make sense. I'll take a fountain soda alongside my gyro. Or better yet, Bud Light on tap. But can I play devil's advocate for a second? Because I'd argue this could this present an interesting opportunity. Shake Shack, for example, has a seriously impressive wine list of splits, one of which, is also Opus One. Wouldn't it be kind of fun (and equally thrilling) to take the opportunity to splurge on a really nice bottle when the rest of your meal isn't going to put you back more than $9 a head? It kind of allows you to indulge more often because it becomes more accessible. Is it THE perfect pairing? Well, maybe not. And that's totally subjective. But, just a thought...
  • You raise a great point, Kiira. Truly, the only question that needs to be answered when pairing food and wine is "does it taste good to you?"

    Personally, I'd rather reserve the special bottles to drink alongside a special meal. But just about anything tastes good in the company of a shake shack burger!
  • bigphilmd
    I'm going to agree with both Kiira and Trout here. I think it's bad business to have a wine list where the cheapest glass of wine is more expensive than some of the entrees. It boxes out consumers that just want a cheap glass of anything to accompany their food. Anyone that has any sense of a budget for that meal would most likely pass on the wine if it's 50% of their check. At the same time, I think it's a good business practice to list higher priced wines on the menu. It creates the potential for a special/memorable meal even though a chicken cutlet sandwich is nothing more than mundane. It seems as if the restaurant strategically prices the wine to convince the consumer to pay for the more expensive wine. If you want the wine so much that you're considering paying $11 a glass to accompany your $10 burger, you'll probably feel better buying the $45 bottle of a desirable wine. The QPR gets better as you hit the middle range of prices.
  • D_Rod
    Was this Jane? The burgers there are good. Didn't really look at the wine list.

    Worse yet is finding a 3-star Michelin restaurant with a comparatively mediocre wine list. Yep, I'm talking about you Picholine.
  • Not Jane, but not far from there!
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